THE BOOKSTEVE CHANNEL

Fast Draw Contest

2013-05-25T00:30:00.000-04:00

Not sure of the date but a fun pic of Clint and Gene "in uniform" as it were, Preston and Borginine out of uniform...and I have no idea what Hugh Downs was up to here. Didn't realize he was that short either!

Dealer's Choice With Bob Hastings

2013-05-24T21:30:00.001-04:00

I don't really remember this 1974 game show at all but I wish I did as it was hosted by my friend Bob Hastings, scheduled to appear as Guest of Honor at the inaugural CINCINNATI NOSTALGIA EXPO this next weekend after coming to town off and on for the past 26 years of its predecessor, THE GREATER CINCINNATI OLD TIME RADIO AND NOSTALGIA CONVENTION. It's been a great pleasure to get to work with and learn from Bob all these years!

R.I.P. Steve Forrest

2013-05-22T21:26:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday, May 18th, I randomly decided to watch a NIGHT GALLERY episode on Hulu. In this case, it was a Western episode featuring a cast of familiar Western faces--Gilbert Roland (right, above), Lex Barker, Buddy Ebsen, Slim Pickens, Albert Salmi...and Steve Forrest. Forrest plays a gunfighter who doesn't realize he's dead. Little did I realize at the time that Forrest, himself, brother of Dana Andrews and always a great authoritative presence in films or television, passed on that date. The news came out today. Rest in Peace.r television, passed on that date. The news came out today.

Rest in Peace.

Men On the Street

2013-05-19T22:00:00.002-04:00

Steve Allen was a multi-talented man, one of whose talents was that he could spot talent in OTHER people! On his fifties shows, he did a feature whereby he allegedly did unrehearsed "man on the street" interviews. The interviewees at various times included such funny folks as Pat Harrington, Dayton Allen and Gabriel Dell but most memorably were the men seen here, some of the funniest of them all.

Louis Nye: Pronounced "Looie," his famous catch-phrase was a fey, "Hi-ho, Steverino!" He specialized in over-privileged mama's boys with delusions of grandeur but he could also do a good serious role. In fact he made a good, long career as a character actor in films and on TV including a running role on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM in his 90s!

Don Knotts: He started in radio and while he didn't really seem to have the looks for TV, his uber-nervous character on the Allen Show more than made up for that. Andy Griffith recognized his talent and put him on his own show a few years later, effectively reducing himself to straight man and in the process creating TV history. In the sixties, he became an unlikely major movie star and, a decade later, returned to TV as a popular regular on THREE'S COMPANY!

Tom Poston: Perhaps the funniest of them all, Poston is best remembered today as a smart panelist with a dry wit on the TV quiz show TO TELL THE TRUTH but his career encompassed a number of stage triumphs as well. He was an amiable leading man in a couple of sixties features but ended up a most welcome character player in films (such as PRINCESS DIARIES 2) and on television in such shows as NEWHART. He even married Suzanne Pleshette, Newahrt's wife from his previous TV series where Poston also appeared in a few episodes!

All in all, three very, very funny guys!

Cincinnati's Nostalgia Expo Reminder

2013-05-15T18:03:00.002-04:00

Bob and Dorothy Jo

2013-05-14T20:40:00.001-04:00

It's hard to deny Bob Barker his place as THE best game show host of all time but reports of his sexual harassment of models during his long and successful run on THE PRICE IS RIGHT are too prevalent to ignore. Seen here is Bob's wife of 36 years, Dorothy Jo. Often seen on Bob's TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES series (and later, I believe, on TATTLETALES), Dorothy Jo came across as a tough broad who adored Bob but wouldn't put up with any shenanigans! Had she not passed in 1981, I'm betting Bob would not have had the issues he later had...or if he had, he would not have survived them!

TV Mothers

2013-05-12T13:42:00.002-04:00

Banacek

2013-05-05T20:21:00.002-04:00

NBC's MYSTERY MOVIE rotating anthology series produced several of my very favorite seventies television series including McCLOUD, HEC RAMSEY and COLUMBO. Another on that list would have to be BANACEK. I was never a big George Peppard fan. I find his acting both before and after this series to be either dismally dull or annoyingly smug. Yes, that includes A-TEAM.

But here, as a Polish-American millionaire insurance investigator in Boston, he is the very personification of the word cool, helped along by some wonderful writing and often amazingly clever mystery plots.

And also a great supporting cast. Although he owns and sometimes drives a gorgeous 1941 Packard, Banacek is most often chauffeured in a limo by Jay (played by Ralph Manza), a very traditional comic sidekick as one might find in movies of The Falcon, The Saint or the Lone Wolf.

Murray Matheson is the brains of the operation as Felix, intellectual owner of an antiquarian bookstore and our hero's go-to guy for any and all obscure info or even the word on the street.

Thomas Banacek's heritage is played up often. At the time, Polish jokes were big and Polish organizations weren't happy about that. Smart, sexy Banacek with his own "old Polish proverbs" became a popular role model for such groups.

Christine Belford appeared on the show semi-regularly as a rival insurance investigator and sometimes "love"interest. Around this same time, she and Peppard starred opposite each other in a clever but now forgotten feature film mystery entitled THE GROUNDSTAR CONSPIRACY. Originally, I found her character grating for some reason, but in later viewings I've quite enjoyed their cat and mouse games.

The show ran, as did its fellow Mystery Movies, in a more or less monthly 90 minute or 2 hour slot. There were only two seasons with critical success but middling ratings. Supposedly Peppard, then going through a rocky divorce, exited after that so his soon-to-be ex wouldn't get half of his earnings under California law.

The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention 2013

2013-05-01T22:21:00.000-04:00

Julie Newmar

As you may have noticed, this blog is now officially sponsored by Martin Grams' Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, one of THE best places to catch some of your classic TV favorites year after year. We'll be spotlighting a number of shows connected to the con, past and present, as we near the actual September event. Here are a few of this year's guests. Click the banner at the bottom of the page to go to the Con's page for much more info!

Edward Asner

John Crawford

Elizabeth Shepherd

Robert Loggia

Also appearing! Legendary movie stars Mamie Van Doren and Margaret O'Brien!

Hanna-Barbera-The Rocky Road to Success-1961

2013-04-26T21:59:00.001-04:00

Vito Scotti--My First "That Guy."

2013-04-24T15:45:00.001-04:00

Probably the earliest character actor I remember recognizing from one show to another was Vito Scotti, an absolute expert in different ethnic characterizations. He started in films in the late forties but really made his mark on television a few years later. One look at his IMDB filmography verifies my theory that he was pretty much on everything in the sixties and early seventies...and quite a few things after that, right up to his passing in 1996!

For more info on Vito Scotti, check out his Wikipedia page here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Scotti

Jerry Mahoney

2013-04-22T13:34:00.002-04:00

While the heyday of Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney was before my time, the great voice actor and his little wooden friend continued to delight well into my formative years. Here's a one-page piece from the mid-fifties.

R.I.P. Annette

2013-04-21T15:24:00.003-04:00

Perhaps my first TV crush, we lost Annette Funicello while my computer was giving me fits. Her earliest success was before I was born but I saw her on ZORRO and reruns of MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY and, yes, THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB. Soon enough, I was watching her in the almost ubiquitous Beach Party movies of the early to mid-sixties. She was, by all accounts, as sweet and lovely inside as out. A friend even though we never met. Rest in peace, my friend.

That Li'l Girl

2013-04-17T17:11:00.002-04:00

In the center is young Margo Thomas, pre-nose job and before she changed her "g" to an "l." The even tinier Thomas at left is her sister Terre aka Theresa, aka, apparently, "Chita!"

R.I.P. Jonathan Winters

2013-04-13T17:33:00.000-04:00

As I grew out of toddler-hood, Jonathan Winters was recognized as a familiar TV presence. By the early seventies, his improvs had become absolute favorites. R.I.P.

Asking For Your Help

2013-04-01T18:12:00.000-04:00

http://www.gofundme.com/2gyu3k

I average 12 fairly popular blogs at any one time and since 2009, partly for health reasons, I have also made my living working from home doing proofreading, transcription, research, fact-checking, editing, editorial assistance, writing and ghostwriting as well as selling off collectibles online. Since December, my IMac has been having intermittent issues that prevent me from working to my best and frustrate me (and my already high blood pressure) endlessly. After talking to Apple, they suggest repairs might cost more than getting an upgraded computer. This one is, after all, three years old.

Amanda Palmer recently posted a video about how people are willing to help if they are just asked. I'm asking. We're still living paycheck to paycheck from my wife's new job and my freelance income. An upgraded version of the computer I have--with all the software I'd need to keep working--would be around $2000.00.

If you've ever enjoyed any of my postings or my writing or my art or my Facebook photo galleries, I'm asking you now to help me keep it going. If 80 people give $25.00 apiece, it's a done deal! I'm asking. If you're in a position to help us out, please consider doing so and I promise to continue to turn out entertaining posts and products for years to come!

Dick Van Dyke/Mary Tyler Moore--Two For the Road

2013-03-30T13:56:00.003-04:00

Dwayne Hickman in TV Radio Mirror-1962

2013-03-28T07:25:00.001-04:00

Burgess Meredith in 1941

2013-03-24T00:30:00.000-04:00

By all accounts a quirky man in real life, I've been a fan ever since The Penguin waddled across my TV screen in early '66. Here's a portrait of the artist 25 years earlier than that.

Nana Visitor

2013-03-23T07:31:00.001-04:00

I first became aware of actress Nana Visitor when she appeared as Ellen Dolan, The Commissioner's daughter, in the TV movie version of THE SPIRIT in the eighties. Frankly, I didn't like the casting and was less than impressed with her. That would change.

DEEP SPACE NINE is often cited by fans as their least favorite STAR TREK series. I can see that and I'd probably agree...as far as favorites. BUT...I'm convinced it's the BEST series in terms of the writing and characterization. At its best STAR TREK isn't about the future and outer space, it's about people, and DS9 is far and above the others in terms of the depth given to its people by the writers and actors. DS9 was never afraid to present real change and character growth as opposed to the illusion of change that always ends up back at status quo by the closing credits. One of the best characters on DS9--and in all of Trek-dom--was Kira Nerys.

Major Kira was at first a reluctant ally of Starfleet. She was a former Bajoran freedom fighter forced into her status as the number two officer on a Space Station in a war zone by circumstance. Over the series' seven seasons, Major Kira, played by Nana Visitor, would grow and develop like no character in STAR TREK had done before.

Deceptively "nice" throughout, as brought to the table by the actress and the writers, Kira had a temper, a fierceness that snuck out from time to time and yet vulnerability. She had a spiritual side, a romantic side, a silly side and deep loyalties to those whom she felt had earned them. Also a truly great smile. As the somewhat serialized storyline of DS9 progressed, all the characters changed but Nerys changed most of all and taken in context, it was impressive to watch Nana Visitor pull it off as strongly as she did.

Life of Pat Buttram (So Far) 1941

2013-03-21T19:57:00.000-04:00

With GREEN ACRES "Mr. Haney" still a quarter of a century into his future, here's an amusing dialect bio, possibly actually written, as stated, by actor Pat Buttram (who was also Gene Autry's B-western sidekick).

Goodnight Children...Everywhere

2013-03-19T17:28:00.001-04:00

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT BOOKSTEVE'S LIBRARY, 2006

My first exposure to British television was probably Gerry Anderson’s FIREBALL XL-5 back when I was five years old. The US imported quite a few shows from the UK back in the day and I became enamored of THE AVENGERS, THE PRISONER and even DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE. Cliff Richard and the St. Trinians girls turned up regularly on the UHF channels in old movies and staid old PBS (or NET at the time) offered more highbrow fare on MASTERPIECE THEATRE. Eventually they picked up britcoms such as Pauline Collins in NO, HONESTLY! before finally presenting DOCTOR WHO, RED DWARF and MYSTERY! One of my favorite British programmes of late has been LIFE ON MARS.

That said, in spite of starting out with kids’ shows, I knew virtually nothing about the history of UK TV for kids when I ran across Ian Hartley’s 1983 GOODNIGHT CHILDREN…EVERYWHERE at a used bookstore in the early nineties. I was intrigued by the appearance of William Hartnell’s DOCTOR WHO on the cover and purchased it immediately.

The book does a splendid job of capturing the early radio and television world of British children, detailing not only the shows that they listened to but also their reactions to them. One mother wrote the BBC to ask that they not have the sounds of horses’ hooves at the end of a radio show as her daughter became afraid that the horses were about to gallop out of the box! Early, simplistic television shows are given equal time with the sixties puppet shows and even US imports such as THE LONE RANGER and TOP CAT (called BOSS CAT in the UK due to a conflict with the brand name of a cat food.) Familiar personalities are profiled as if they were old friends.

One has to presume that these are the shows and stars that the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion groups watched and listened to growing up. These are the shows that influenced the people who most influenced pop culture in the sixties.

I didn’t live in this world of Daphne Oxenford, Mr. Pastry and BLUE PETER and reading about it is, in a way, like reading the history of an alternate universe. If you have even a trace of Anglophile in you, however, it’s a most imaginative and wondrous universe! It makes me wish I HAD lived it.

Murder Can Hurt You

2013-03-15T16:23:00.004-04:00

This was a fun TV-movie for anyone who grew up watching the niche detectives of the seventies. It was simultaneously a knowing lampoon of all those shows as well as itself a rip-off of the theatrical hit, MURDER BY DEATH which featured parodies of movie detectives.

Directed by a man with sitcom chops, we get here a lot of sitcom actors and a few surprises, all laughing it up almost MAD magazine style in sometimes dead-on versions of the now classic TV heroes.

TAXI's Tony Danza is "Lambretta," a take on Robert Blake's BARETTA.
ROCKY co-star Burt Young is perfect as the rumpled COLUMBO doppelgänger, "Palumbo."
STARSKY & HUTCH become "Studsky & Hatch" as played by M*A*S*H's Jamie Farr and Kopykat John Byner.
Telly's KOJAK is sent up by that other bald TV favorite, THE LOVE BOAT's Gavin MacLeod.
HEE HAW singer Buck Owens is the Western marshal "MacSkye" as opposed to Dennis Weaver's McCLOUD.
BATMAN'S King Tut, Victor Buono, wheels in as Raymond Burr's Chief IRONSIDE with GOOD TIMES star Jimmie "JJ" Walker as his "pusher."
And finally, HAWAIIAN EYE veteran Connie Stevens replaces Angie Dickinson's Sgt. Pepper as "Salty."

Other TV familiar faces appearing include Richard Deacon from THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, HAPPY DAYS' Roz Kelly, Gunilla Hutton from PETTICOAT JUNCTION and HEE HAW, Marty Allen, Liz Torres and Mason Adams and the whole silly mess is narrated by GET SMART's Don Adams.

MURDER CAN HURT YOU doesn't seem to turn up very often these days but I did catch it again just a couple of years back and found myself laughing at all of its in-jokes and just plain silliness.

Car 54, Where Are Your Comics?

2013-03-14T06:15:00.002-04:00

So many of my favorite TV series as a kid had their own comic books. This one ran six issues from Dell (note the fifteen cent price on the first issue!) beginning in 1962.

Bobby Sherman in Concert

2013-03-11T00:30:00.000-04:00

HERE COME THE BRIDES star Bobby Sherman was the favorite of my sixth grade girlfriend and I tried to at least dress like him that year myself. Here's an ad I clipped from his sole concert appearance in the Cincinnati area. There was never any talk of this girl and I going. I mean, look at the prices! Five bucks! That was a fortune to an 11 year old! A review at the time pointed out that there were near-riot like conditions, mostly led by just that--11 year old girls!